Search results for "farming"
showing 10 items of 302 documents
Soil macrofauna and organic matter in irrigated orchards under Mediterranean climate
2017
Soil fauna abundance and diversity and organic matter content are key indicators for the rate of soil degradation in Mediterranean-type ecosystems. The soil macrofauna populations were examined in three orange (Citrus sinensis) orchards and one persimmon (Diospyros kaki) orchard, with the same soil type and different management systems, to establish whether organic management benefits soil fauna and soil quality and what is the effect of flood irrigation. Vegetation cover, soil organic matter, bulk density and moisture were measured at each experimental site within the Canyoles watershed in Eastern Spain in summer of 2015. Earthworm abundance was highest at the organic orchard with flood ir…
Effects of agricultural management on surface soil properties and soil–water losses in eastern Spain
2009
Abstract In Spain, agriculture triggers soil degradation and erosion processes. New strategies have to be developed to reduce soil losses and recover or maintain soil functionality in order to achieve a sustainable agriculture. An experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of different agricultural management on soil properties and soil erosion. Five different treatments (ploughing, herbicide, control, straw mulch and chipped pruned branches) were established in “El Teularet experimental station” located in the Sierra de Enguera (Valencia, Spain). Soil sampling was conducted prior to treatment establishment, and again after 16 months, to determine soil organic matter content (OM), aggre…
Soil quality indicators as affected by a long term barley-maize and maize cropping systems
2011
Most soil studies aim a better characterization of the system through indicators. In the present study nematofauna and soil structure were chosen as indicators to be assess soil health as related to agricultural practices. The field research was carried out on the two fodder cropping systems continuous maize (CM, Zea mays L.) and a 3-year rotation of silage-maize – silage-barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) with Italian ryegrass (R3) and grain-maize maintained in these conditions for 18 years. Each crop system was submitted to two management options: 1) the high input level (H), done as a conventional tillage, 2) the low input level (L), where the tillage was replaced by harrowing and the…
Long-term effects of soil management on ecosystem services and soil loss estimation in olive grove top soils
2016
Soil management has important effects on soil properties, runoff, soil losses and soil quality. Traditional olive grove (OG) management is based on reduced tree density, canopy size shaped by pruning and weed control by ploughing. In addition, over the last several decades, herbicide use has been introduced into conventional OG management. These management strategies cause the soil surface to be almost bare and subsequently high erosion rates take place. To avoid these high erosion rates several soil management strategies can be applied. In this study, three strategies were assessed in OG with conventional tillage in three plots of 1. ha each. Soil properties were measured and soil erosion …
Soil Quality as Affected by Intensive Versus Conservative Agricultural Managements
2017
Soils, the earth’s skin, are at the intersection of the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere. The persistence of life on our planet depends on the maintenance of soils as they constitute the biological engines of earth. Human population has increased exponentially in recent decades, along with the demand for food, materials, and energy, which have caused a shift from low-yield and subsistence agriculture to a more productive, high-cost, and intensive agriculture. However, soils are very fragile ecosystems and require centuries for their development, thus within the human timescale they are not renewable resources. Modern and intensive agriculture implies serious concern about…
Effects of dichlorvos aquaculture treatments on selected biomarkers of gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata L.) fingerlings
2007
Abstract The gilthead sea bream ( Sparus aurata ) is the most important marine cultured species in the Mediterranean. Dichlorvos is one of the main chemical agents used in bath treatments against ectoparasites of marine farmed fish. The main objective of this study was to investigate the effects of 24 h dichlorvos baths on selected biomarkers that are involved in important physiological functions or indicative of gilthead sea bream fingerlings growth. To attain this objective, the in vivo effects of dichlorvos on cholinesterases' activity (ChE), lipid peroxidation (TBARS), RNA/DNA ratio, glutathione S -transferases activity (GST) and heat shock proteins HSP70 were studied. The characterizat…
Effects of progressive decrease of feeding frequency and re-feeding on production parameters, stomach capacity and muscle nutritional value in rainbo…
2020
Abstract Feeds and feeding constitute the major part of costs in intensive aquaculture. Any action to reduce feeding costs without negatively affecting fish production parameters and flesh quality would improve profitability of farming. Therefore, we studied the effects of feeding frequency on production parameters, stomach capacity and nutritional value of muscle in juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in an experiment with two stages. First, during the nine-week “starvation period” we fed rainbow trout (initial weight c. 40 g) with four different feeding protocols in an attempt to adapt the fish to a progressive decrease in the number of feeding days. During the second stage, a fo…
Social Innovation for Sustainability and the Common Good in Ecosystems of the Fourth Sector: The Case of Distribution Through Alternative Food Networ…
2021
There is increasing attention regarding the contribution of alternative food networks (AFN) for creating more sustainable communities. AFN are initiatives, which try to relocalize and democratize food systems, promoting local and organic agriculture, and reducing the distance between producers and consumers. They take different forms from cooperatives and farmers’ markets to on-line platforms, veg boxes and social enterprises. They propose socially innovative schemes and models for food distribution, which combine an orientation towards public and common good with economic self-sufficiency. In this sense, these initiatives frequently take the form of fourth sector or hybrid organizations.
Aquaculture in Sicily: the state of the art
2009
Aquaculture in Sicily, represented almost exclusively by seabass and sea bream production, together with capture fishery, plays a significant role in the regional economy. On a national basis, the regional production covers about 20% of Italian euryha- line fish production. Fingerling supply is guaranteed by the two hatcheries present on the Island. Twelve floating cage farms and two inshore farms annually produce about 4,000 t of fish. A small extensive production arises from the storage basins of the salt work of Trapani. This niche production could represent an opportunity to realize a new distinctive organic aquaculture, preferred by the consumers respect to intensive produced fish, tha…
Sustainable vineyard floor management: An equilibrium between water consumption and soil conservation
2018
Abstract Sustainable vineyards soil management can help to mitigate the negative effect of intensive agriculture on soil ecosystem for the achievement of the sustainable development goals. Cover crops use as cover management in vineyard could be considered as nature based solution for soil restoration and proper water management. Cover crops (CC) provide many ecosystem services through carbon sequestration and climate change regulation, water purification and soil protection. However, a holistic approach is needed to understand the maximum potential ecosystem service that can be provided in different soil and climatic condition also considering vineyard needs. The current knowledge of CC ma…